Gaseous signal light



March 20, 1934. J. o. cADlEux 1,951,502

GAsEoUs SIGNAL LIGHT Filed April 2, 1930 v o v 9 l I i l 3 1 2 f v u Eo i l E Patented Mar. 20, 1934 1,951,502 GAsEoUs SIGNAL LIGHT Joseph 0. Cadieux, Meriden,

Conn., assignor to Connecticut Telephone & Electric Corporation, Meriden, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Application April 2, 1930, Serial No. 441,033 Claims. (Cl. 176-122) My invention relates particularly to lighting by means of luminous gas such as neon contained within a tube or tubes.

'Ihe main object is to provide a simple, rugged l type of construction which can be adapted to various forms of lights and particularly traffic signals.

Another object is to provide a completely housed and protected construction which how" 1Q ever may be readily inspected, repaired or re placed in part.

Another object is to provide a combination transformer and lamp which is substantially weather-proof.

Another object is to which the transformer the lamp terminals in and prevent accidents ment cf the lamp.

In its preferred form the invention contemplates a transformer combination within a housing and support.

Upon this transformer socket containing 15 provide a construction in is directly connected with a manner to avoid losses in handling and replacehousing is mounted a protected terminals directly connected with the output or high tension leads of the transformer. The lamp base is detachably connected in the socket by means of prongs and contains bus bars to which tube clips may be attached at such positions as may be necessary depending upon the length of the word or the number of letters to be displayed. The lamp tube and the base and socket are all enclosed within a casing, supported on the transformer housing, and which is preferably Weather-proof. A number of tubes may be fed from the same transformer.

Fig. 1 is a front view and partial vertical section of one form of construction embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is an edge view with one corner of the casing broken away and showing the tube dotted.

Fig. 3 is a side view and section of a modication of the lamp.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section of a lamp base.

The transformer 5 has input leads 6 and output leads 7 and is preferably of a step-up type adapted to utilize standard lighting current on the input and provide the necessary voltage for the lamp at the output.

'I'his transformer is preferably mounted within an insulating` housing or cup 8 in which it is supported by brackets 9. 'I'he transformer may be entirely embedded in a suitable insulating composition (not shown).

The main housing 10 supports the transformer housing which may be screwed in place by a number of screws 11 passing through a flange in the upper edge of the transformer housing. 'Ihe outer housing 10 is preferably of metal and constitutes the upper end of a suitable standard.

The socket portion 12 is preferably of insulating material and has a ilange which may be se= cured to the housing 10 and transformer housing 8 by the screws 11. This socket contains two protected spring clips or terminals 13 which are connected to the output leads '7 of the transformer. 'Ihe clips are set down into recesses in the socket and accidental access to the clips is prevented by means of a disc-like cover 14 which may be secured to the body of the socket by rivet 15.

The lamp base 16 is preferably of molded insu lation and provided with grooves 1'7-17 on opposite sides in which are mounted the bus bars 18-18 which are anchored to the base by a num- 75 ber of rivets 19 which are molded or otherwise secured in the base.

The prongs 20 are secured to these bus bars and adapted to extend through the disc 14 to engage the spring clips 13 in the socket. Spring terminal clips 21-21 are secured to the bus bars 18--18' in any suitable manner at such points as are proper depending upon the length of the lamp tube 22 whose ends are adapted to be inserted into the clip in order to connect the electrodes of the tube. A cover plate 23 of insulating material is secured to the base 16 in any suitable manner to prevent access to the bus bars 18-18.

A reiiector plate 24 may be provided which has its lower edge secured in the base 16. gg

The projecting casing for the tube consists of a. back portion 25 and a front portion 26 each of which is provided with a flange 27 to embrace the upper edge of the support housing 10. A gasket28 is preferably provided in order to insure g5 a water tight joint. The casing is secured to the support housing by a number of screws 29. Two parts of the casing are secured together by screws such as 30 with an interposed backing or gasket 31 to make the casing weather-proof. The front of the casing is provided with aglass or other transparent or translucent plate 32 through which the light shines. This glass front may be secured in any suitable manner as for instance by means of a backing frame 32'.

To obtain access to the lamp tube the rear of the casing 25 is removed whereupon either the lamp tube 22 may be removed and/or the lamp base itself may be removed. It is thus possible to readily replace either the lamp base or the 11 tube itself. This construction also makes it possible to utilize the same transformer and socket for different lamp bases and to utilize the same lamp base for a number of different tubes.

The bus bar type of construction provides a convenient means for the use of a number of different tubes with the same transformer as shown for instance in Fig. 3 where two tubes 35 and 36 are shown connected to the bus bars 37 and 38. It is thus possible to obtain different color effects by a combination of tubes or special signal effects by varying the color produced by the gas or the color of the glass, or both.

One or both of the tube clips 21 and 21 may be adjustable between the inner and outer ends of the respectivebus bars 18 and 18 for instance by mounting the rivet 40 in a slot in the bus bar and providing a foot slidable in a groove 41 in the base as shown in Fig. 4.

Itis to be noted that the described construction promotes safety during operation and lamp replacement, by keeping members bearing dangerous potentials in such locations that contact with the person is almost impossible, even when changing lamps while operating.

A flashing device may be employed, preferably in the primary circuit of transformer 5 and located within the same housing, if desired.

It is evident that remote control of this device is possible by any devices which can control the current in the primary circuit of the transform- I claim:

1. In a luminescent gas lamp device, a base having longitudinal channels, bus bars mounted in said channels, terminal prongs connected to the bus bars and projecting from the base, and a tube terminal clip connected to each of the bus bars and longitudinally adjustable thereon.

2. In a luminescent gas lamp device, a base having longitudinal channels, bus bars mounted in said channels, terminal prongs connected to the bus bars and projecting fromv the base, tube terminal clips connected to the bus bars andv adapted to receive the ends of a luminescent gas tube and a socket provided with clips to receive the ends of the terminal prongs, at least one of said terminal clips being adapted to be longitudinally adjustable on said bus bar.

3. In a luminescent gas lamp device, a base provided with recesses, electrical conductors secured within said recesses, terminal prongs connected to said conductors and projecting from the base, and tube connecting devices conn'c'ted to the conductors and longitudinally adjustable thereon, said tube connecting devices being arranged in a manner to receive the ends of a plurality of luminescent gas tubes.

4. A gas lamp device comprising in combination a base for supporting a luminescent gas tube, a'- support below said base, and a casing around said tube and base and split in a manner for removal of said tube on removal of only one portion of said casing.

5. A gas lamp device comprising in combination a base for supporting a luminescent gas tube, a support below said base, and a casing around said tube and base and split in a manner for removal of said tube and base on removal of only one portion of said casing.

6. A gas lamp device comprising in combination a base for supporting a luminescent gas tube, a support below said base, and a split casing around said tube and base provided with a light-transmitting front on one side, said tube being closer to the rear than to the front wall of said casing to provide better visibility of the tube in daylight.

7. A gas lamp device comprising in combination a base for supporting a luminescent gas tube, a support below said base, and a casing around said tube and base provided with a glam front on one side, said casing being split vertically and said tube being located substantially en- /tirely in one portion of said casing, whereby on removal of that portion of the casing said tube may be removed without removal of the other portion of the casing.

8. In a gas lamp device wherein a transformer is employed for stepping up the source voltage, the combination with said transformer of a base for supporting a luminescent gas tube, a support below said base, a casing around said tube and base and support, and inner and outer transformer housings below said support, said inner housing, support and casing being carried on the upper portion of said outer housing.

9. In a gas lamp device wherein a transformer is employed for stepping up the source voltage, the combination with said transformer f a lamp base having projecting suppljT terminals, socket portion of insulating material for supporting said base and having spaced recessed portions for reception of said projecting terminals, a transformer casing closed by said socket portion, and an outer casing enclosing said transformer casing and supporting the transformer casing and said socket portion.

l0. In a gas lamp device wherein a transformer is employed for stepping up the source voltage, the combination with said transformer of a lamp base having projecting supply terminals, a socket portion of insulating material for supporting said base and having spaced recessed portions for reception of said projecting terminals, a transformer casing closed by said socket portion, and an outer casing enclosing said transformer casing and supporting the transformer casing and said socket portion, and an enclosing casing for said gas tube also carried by said outer casing.

11. In a gas lamp device wherein a transformer is employed for stepping up the source voltage, the combination with said transformer of a lamp base having projecting supply terminals, a socket portion of insulating material for supporting said base and having spaced recessed portions for reception of said projecting terminals, a transformer casing closed by said socket portion, and an outer casing enclosing said transformer casing and supporting the transformer casing and said socket portion, and an enclosing casing for said gas tube also carried by said outer casing, said gas tube enclosing casing also enclosing said lamp base and the major part of said socket portion.

12. In a luminescent gas lamp device, an insulating base, electrical conductors mounted on said base, contact terminals engaging said conductors and projecting from said base, and means mounted on said conductors for receiving the ends of a luminescent gas tube.

13. In lighting apparatus, an insulating base, electrical conductors secured to one side of said base, a contact terminal engaging each of said conductors and projecting from the other side 0f said base, and conducting means adjustably mounted on said conductors for receiving the ends of a gas filled lamp.

14. In a luminescent gas lamp device, an in- Latinos bination with said transformer and lamp .of a socket electrically connected to said secondary coil, an insulating base. bus bars on said base, terminals connected with said bus bars and adapted to engage said socket, and conducting clips on said bus bars for receiving the ends of said lamps.

- JOSEPH O. CADIEUX. 

